AP

Actor Denzel Washington. Photo: Luis M. Alvarez

The Academy Award is Hollywood’s ultimate prize, not that Denzel Washington seems to care. The acclaimed actor has admitted that he lets his wife make the final decision on his Oscar vote because he could be bothered to watch all the movies.

Washington, a two-time Oscar recipient, says his ex-beauty queen spouse Pauletta is the real movie buff.

“Actually, my wife watches all of the movies. You know they send you the DVDs and she watches them all,” he said.

“So she actually does the voting, I'll be honest with you. I watch some of them but she watches them all. She's like, 'Oh no, no, no – you don't want to put that one down.”

Washington’s neglect of his duties as a member of the Academy isn’t very helpful considering that the awards ceremony has been criticised as elitist and out of touch. His admission coincides with a new study which revealed that the Academy Awards were overwhelmingly white, middle class, and older.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences says it draws its membership from “the most accomplished men and women working in cinema”. It has never, however, revealed who it’s individual members are. The Los Angeles Times, however, confirmed that of the 5100 of the 5765 voting members, 94 per cent are white, 77 per cent are male and 54 per cent are over 60.

According to the Daily Mail, though the figures are representative of those who make movies, they are not representative of those who watch them.

The consensus among critics seems to be that this “white and old” voter bias means that little-watched, but critically acclaimed, movies are more likely to grab the coveted statuette than highly successful crowd-pleasers. - IOL

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